Referring to - 33

Chapter 33

The last time Lin Zixi stayed at Gu Zecheng's place, he was ‘drunk when he came and in a hurry when he left’, so he basically didn't have time to observe it. This time, he could not refute and was taken away, so he had time and mood to take a closer look at this space that belonged to his dad.

The main color is rice-white, and the furniture was black. The European style was minimalist with low-key luxury. Compared with his own doghouse and the main house of the Gu family, young actor Lin would judge that his dad's (aesthetic) taste was frigid... ah, no, it was spartan. 

If Lin Zixi were to choose by himself, he would politely decline this style that was more like a studio than a home. But since he was temporarily living in the gold master daddy's house, it was no good for him to be pretentious and picky.

However, he had lived here for ten days, and he still couldn't stand it—it was not that he had any conflict with Dad Gu, but his days had been really boring.

The charm of ‘being on vacation’ was to sleep whenever you wanted, get up whenever you wanted, eat whatever you wanted, and play whatever game you wanted.

Whereas he had to go to bed and get up early, eat a healthy diet and avoid junk food, rest more, and watch TV and play games less every day…. This was simply no different from how he lived when he was still in the hospital. Was he on vacation or in prison?!

The most terrible thing was that since he lived here, Gu Zecheng, aka Big Boss Gu, had to come and live here every day no matter how busy he was with work or how late he was after socializing. He was simply more responsible and diligent than a prison guard—a prison guard still had a day off every week!

Young actor Lin, who had been raised free-range by Mrs. Lin for more than ten years, experienced a life under the strict control of his dad for almost two weeks and finally couldn’t bear it anymore.

"I went to the hospital for a re-examination today. The doctor said that my recovery was better than expected, and there’s nothing serious. I really don't need anyone to take care of me…." After dinner in the evening, Lin Zixi took out the hospital's follow-up report and talked to Gu Zecheng, who was washing the dishes, "Did you sign a three-month contract with Sister Wang? I'll be responsible for the rest of her salary, and I really don't need her to come later."

Dad Gu turned his head and glanced at the report in Lin Zixi’s hand before hitting the nail on the head, "Then you can take advantage of me not being home and wave as much as you want, right?"

"Absolutely not, I promise!" Lin Zixi immediately defended himself loudly, "I was too excited after having just been discharged from the hospital that day, so I accidentally stayed up all night..."

Then the next day, his dad invited someone to clean and cook while looking after him at the same time.

Young actor Lin saw that the man in front of him was still looking at him with some mistrust, so he tried hard to open his peach blossom eyes wider, showing an innocent and sincere expression, "Daddy, please believe me one more time."

Yes, after the trial in the hospital back then was fruitless, Lin Zixi occasionally pushed his luck to feel his dad out. Whenever he found an opportunity, he would call Gu Zecheng Dad jokingly—not to mention observing his dad's reaction, at least, he could also cultivate the atmosphere of ‘benevolent father, filial son’ in advance...right?

Although his dad seemed to be pleased and amused every time, Lin Zixi could not see anything. But in any case, the other party was not really angry because of it or forbade him to call like that again.

Naturally, this time was also the same.

Gu Zecheng lifted up a hand that was still wet after washing the dishes and flicked Lin Zixi's forehead hard. Seeing the other party's childish expression of blinking and rubbing his forehead in pretend grievance, he only snorted coldly and said, "I'll believe you this time. But if once again I catch you not eating and sleeping properly and just playing with your computer and mobile phone..."

He stopped halfway and bent down slightly to face Lin Zixi before whispering the second half of the sentence in his ear, "Once your injury is completely healed, you’ll have plenty of time to cry and call 'Daddy'."

Hearing his dad's words, young actor Lin suddenly couldn’t react until Gu Zecheng straightened up his body again and moved away from his ear. Only then did he manage to react somewhat sluggishly—did his dad mean to give him corporal punishments?!

Although it was said that corporal punishment was common occurence for many second and third generations of the military when they were young, and that most strict fathers in the compound would strap their own naughty little devils when they got angry, but he was already an adult and still a celebrity somewhat. If he was made to stand still as a punishment and spanked by his dad because of watching TV and playing games….

As Lin Zixi was thinking this way, his mind could not help but form a picture of Gu Zecheng pressing him on his knees and taking off his pants and beating him, making his face immediately turn red.

Moreover, not only did he blush, but his heart also started to beat rapidly all of a sudden, and there was some kind of feeling that he did not know whether it was a guilty conscience or something rushing forth, which made him dare not raise his head to look at his dad for a long time.

Fortunately, Gu Zecheng, seeing the dyed red white nape that was exposed after Lin Zixi lowered his head, only laughed silently and did not continue the topic. Instead, he said, "Let her keep coming, okay? Just to cook your meals, and then she can leave. Although this place is quite close to our company building, it’s not very nice of me to ask my special assistant to bring you meals every day…”

The temperature on Lin Zixi’s face had dropped a lot at this time, so he quickly raised his head and waved his hand, saying to his dad, "No need to be so troublesome. I can cook by myself, and I can do simple cleaning…. I'm actually not used to having a stranger come to my house every day."

Gu Zecheng was a little surprised, "You also can cook?"

"Of course. After my mom remarried..." Lin Zixi carefully observed his dad's expression before continuing, "My stepfather is a very good man and also quite nice to me, but I was an awkward teenager at that time. I felt embarrassed, so I didn't move to live with them and only occasionally went over on weekends…. Anyway, my former home was a bit closer to our high school, and they couldn't force me, so they could only comply with me. My cooking skills were developed at that time. Later, when I attended CFA, everyone was tired of eating in the cafeteria and often secretly and illegally used electricity to cook by themselves. I also won the rare honor of 'Best Chef in the 7B Dormitory Building' for two consecutive years.” 

This was the first time that Lin Zixi had mentioned his past in front of Gu Zecheng. Gu Zecheng quietly listened to him talk until the end and then gently rubbed the top of his head as if to comfort him. He did not mention his mom's remarriage or his high school days but asked in a gentle and curious tone, "Why’re you only the best chef for two consecutive years? Were you later discovered using electricity illegally?" 

"With our technique of hiding things, how could we’re discovered!" Lin Zixi recalled what happened in college with nostalgia and a smile on his face, "In our school, first-year and second-year students aren’t allowed to go out to accept an acting role. I made my acting debut when I was a third-year student. But my junior schoolmates have been spreading the legend of a kitchen god from the senior generation…. I have a junior called Xue Yaochen, and when I participated in the food variety show this year, he still took his cue from me."

Gu Zecheng also followed him and smiled, but he suddenly stopped smiling halfway through and pretended to be serious. He poked Lin Zixi’s forehead again and, hating iron for not becoming steel, sighed, "Your school doesn’t let students accept an acting role before they’re in the third year in order to make them study well and not be too fickle and impatient. Why’re you still so bad at acting, though?!"

…… Tell me, why did his gold master daddy always touch his sore spot?!

 

"I didn't expect that I’d actually become popular! My goal at that time was to rely on my face to play supporting roles for a few years, save some money, and make a living..." Lin Zixi said while crossing his hands to protect his forehead and staring helplessly at his dad. "Brother, you’re my own dad! Let's not talk about this, okay?!"

"Now you know to regret it?" His elder brother, his gold master, his own dad shook his head. “You have to learn to act with Zhou Fan more seriously. Don't always cruelly poison the taste of your little fans and the eyes of the general public."

 

Young actor Lin immediately saluted again, "Guaranteed to complete the organization’s task!"

Gu Zecheng, seeing him with beautiful big eyes as bright as the full moon, pinched his cheek lightly and said with a smile, "If you can really complete the task, the organization will invest in you to make a big drama of the year, and if you work hard for one drama, you can get the best actor award."

"The organization is really..." Young actor Lin saw his dad's high-spirited look and finally swallowed his emotional complaint and changed it to, "Too considerate."

Nowadays, the ‘big drama of the year’ was like being cursed; the one that was praised to the sky was the one that failed, understand?!

There was one that got bad ratings and poor evaluation of not being trendy enough after it aired, and another that had not been able to be aired and delayed the production company until it almost went bankrupt, understand?!

His family's organization was really…. The old father with hereditary Mercury retrograde shouldn't blindly set up a flag for his son, okay?

TL’s note:

浪 (làng) = wave; breaker; unrestrained; dissipated; to play

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